College Invitational Showcase Ohio

10th Annual Ohio Stingrays College Exposure Showcase and Tournament.

Proceeds Benefiting the Stefanie Spielman Breast Cancer Awareness Fund at OSU's Comprehensive Cancer Center, The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

The Stingray Invitational is now accepting applications for their 10th annual event held in Columbus Ohio July 9th - 11th, 2010 (10u - 18u). There were about 90 teams from 9 states playing this year. This is one of the premier events in the Midwest and it attracts college coaches from many different conferences. Last years event hosted 38 colleges and universities with over 70 coaches in attendance - and that was with Saturday being a rainout day!! A normal dry weekend will see many more attend. The application and selection process used to set the field enables the Organization to assure that the event will be the most competitive field of the summer. The college coaches know they will see quality players and games throughout the tournament. Unlike other events that take any team that sends in a check - gaining entry into this tournament is a success in and of itself.

The application process is now open. It will close in early November and the field will be set one week later. Yes this is a July event - but the interest in this tournament is such that teams plan their summers around it, so knowing if they are in aids in their teams planning.

While all this holds true for the 16 and 18 age groups the same can be said for the younger brackets. While the event is heavily weighted toward the older age groups, the younger ones come to play as well!!! From top to bottom this field is the best competition teams will play all year - short of the ASA Nationals. I know that a 16 hours road trip is a lot to ask to go to a summer tournament, but it certainly won't disappoint those attending. A team coming from this region would get a lot of attention from a group of coaches that they would not see in the normal showcases we have down here. Schools only have a certain amount of scholarship money to give out. Being seen by differnt schools can only help. It is a first class event, run by a first class organization, benefitting a GREAT CAUSE.

If any teams in this region thinks they might be interested in more information about this tournament - drop me a message. I can help.
To get more online information please go to the following link.

http://10tourney.stingraysfastpitch.com


This is an invitational tournament you need to be at!! Here are some comments from past attendees! Come on up to OHIO we'd love to have you!

COMMENTS:

First rate, best in class ... as always.

Absolutely love the online brackets, plus all of the other efforts at perfection. What else would I expect though in the great shadow of the Horseshoe


The fields were great....that grass is the best bare-foot, flip-flop wearing, just-want-to-lay-down-on-it stuff around. Kills ground balls, but we dealt with it.

We had a dozen college coaches sitting all around us at all times on Friday and Saturday. Some returned on Sunday even with promise of delays due to weather.

Umpires were really good....very loud in their calls which make them even more professional if you ask me. Decisive and fair all the way around.


Umpires at Stingrays were fantastic and so were the college coaches on hand to watch on any given day. Not so much on Sunday, but still well worth the driving and the cost.
Stingray "volunteers" were great to us every day and very willing to help out or chat.


What a well oiled machine!
Others should study this plan!


Stellar tournament- despite rain, etc., great fields, great upkeep between games, great communication. Thank you Stingrays and all the volunteers and parents. have been to ASa nationals, NSA nationals, USSSA Nationals, Compuware,etc. this tournament ranks with the best - but be careful - you'll trip over a college scout just by walking to the rest room!!!


As usual, the Stingrays ran a great tournament and did things the right way. It's nice to play at such a great facility and have the fields prepped for every game (as does GAPSS). Others could learn a thing or 2 from the Stingrays about running a quality tournament

I just checked out the Stingray website....Awesome job with the game results, very cool!

The people at the NSA national office should take lessons on how to run a tournament - attend the Stingrays Invitational.
Throughout the rain from Saturday to early Sunday, the entire Stingray organization did a fantastic job to ensure the tournament did not miss a beat! It ended up the most perfect day
for softball on Sunday weather wise, and I would have to believe that the cosmic power of the Stingrays had something to do with that !

Again, outstanding job by the tournament - this event has to be the top dog in the midwest in terms of ASA/Junior Olympic softball competition - the players and families should appreciate this type of venue.

The thanks should go to you and Rudy, and the many Stingray coaches and parents that make this the best tournament in the Midwest!!! Thanks again for all the hard work, it is much appreciated by hundreds of dedicated softball families across Ohio and beyond!!!

 

Hey everyone,

I have worked as an assistant TD in this tournament the last couple of years. The Ohio Stingray's organization does their absolute best to give teams a great experience. We have consistently sought out the best competition in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, and Virginia and we are wanting to broaden that area to keep the competition at the very best.

The tournament is held on the Ohio State University campus at Fred Beekman Park. Come north for a great tournament experience.

 

Additonal piece to make the trip worth the while!

National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Administered Recruiting Camp

We are excited to announce that the NFCA/Ohio Stingrays Recruiting Camp is coming to Columbus. Participation in this camp is an outstanding way to showcase softball talent to a large cross-section of college coaches. In a camp setting, coaches get to see lots of repetitions at the defensive position and double digit swings at the plate. It guarantees that coaches see athletes field, throw and hit, in case these opportunities don?t present themselves in a game situation.

The 2010 NFCA/Ohio Stingrays Recruiting Camp is Thursday, July 8th at The Ohio State University?s Fred Beekman Park. The Ohio Stingrays Tournament immediately follows this camp on the morning of July 9th.

The NFCA/Ohio Stingrays camp application must be completed online between the dates of February 1 and May 1. Please go to http://www.nfca.org/camps/ to access and complete the application. Note: the application must be completed after February 1 on the NFCA site and not on the Stingrays site.

In 2009, the NFCA administered and endorsed camps together attracted more than 6,000 applicants and 1,000 college coaches from around the country. Don't miss this opportunity in 2010 to showcase your softball skills to the large population of college coaches who will be scouting this Camp. Coaches registered to recruit at the NFCA/Ohio Stingrays camp will be listed on the NFCA website by early June. <www.NFCA.org>

The recruiting camp is divided into the following sessions:
Outfielders/Catchers: 8:30 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.
Pitchers: 11:30 a.m. - 2:25 p.m.
Infielders: 2:25 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Please submit your application based on the softball position to be showcased. All applicants will be contacted shortly after May 1, the NFCA/Ohio Stingrays application deadline, with information related to camp status. No payment is required until after May 1 when the letter of acceptance is received.

Additional information is located on the NFCA website as indicated above. The FAQ page provides answers to most of the commonly asked camp questions.

Again, please remember that the NFCA/Ohio Stingrays Recruiting camp is administered by the NFCA, not the Ohio Stingrays Tournament staff.

Address all camp questions by emailing [email protected] or calling 662-320-2155.

 

Being a TD from Ohio myself, I can tell you that this is the best showcase in the State of Ohio and probally within a five state area around us. College coaches everywhere at this event and without a doubt the best ran tournament in Ohio. I love going to watch personally as the teams are tremendous.

 

Hot Times

I think most of the serious showcase teams in NC & SC (and some from OH) play in the Bandits Hot Times tournament in Florece that week.

 

We have been to the Stingrays Showcase before and it by far the best showcase in Ohio and right on par with the Orland Sparks Showcase in Elgin, (Chicago) Illinois.

 

Our team also played at the Carolina Cardinal Classic down in Raleigh, NC this past summer. It was a great experience for our team. Great facilities, ample amount of college coaches, super nice TD. Heck, even the state trooper who pulled me over at 1:00am for speeding (because I was lost) just gave me a warning. The only negative was we only played 3 great teams (Carolina Wildcats, Carolina Cardinals and a NJ team) out of the 7 games we played. At these 3 games there were plenty of college coaches, but at the other 4 games only a coach or two attended, because the teams were not true ASA type teams.

Now the reason we traveled to this Showcase is several of our players are very interested in southern schools and they would've never had the oppotunity to be seen if we didn't travel south. It worked out well as a top North Carolina program watched 2 of our games and became interested in a couple of our players and even kept her promise and watched a couple of our games later on out at ASA 16U Nat's in Sioux Falls, SD. Later this month we play our final fall showcase down in Chattanooga, TN and they have ask for our game times, so hopefully they will be able to see our girls one last time. So traveling to an out of region showcase can surely open up opportunties with different programs!

From a competition standpoint, I know that if teams such as the Carolina Wildcats, Carolina Cardinals, Virginia Shamrocks and Carolina Crush were ever to play teams like the Indiana Shockwaves, Louisville Sluggers, Ohio Lady Lasers, Ohio Valley Extream, Indy Dreams, Ill Homer Hawks ect at an eastern showcase before nationals. It would better prepare eastern teams for ASA Nat's...I know it had to help at least a little for the Indiana Shockwaves who finished 4th at ASA 16U out of 164 teams.